Saturday, June 4, 2016

"THE REAL DANGER IS SELF-CONTAINED TYPES LIKE YOU," says Richard.

"THE REAL DANGER IS SELF-CONTAINED TYPES LIKE YOU," says Richard. I loathed Richard's character, but that was a damn good line. Have we not been told to watch out for the quiet types at one point or another?

I would argue
High-Rise falls under the category of Dystopia.

I did not see this
film as satire but as an extreme reality that parallels my own housing reality
in many ways. I have spoken about some of the details of my own high-rise on
India St in Little Italy to give context and feel no need to repeat them here
unless my professor would like more detail. I think he gets the point J

In my opinion, the themes of
entrapment and containment were transparent from beginning to end.

Mr. Laing moves to
this high rise to begin a clean slate after losing his sister, but
does not have an extra "10 minutes for a massage." He goes to his
first building party and sees Richard trying to cheat on his wife Helen, he has
to take a sleeping pill to sleep (although he has an arguably great sexy dream) and
has to take a day off because his life is beginning to spiral.

Like so many Americans
he works out in an enclosed concrete space and gets sun on another enclosed
place that reminds me of a prison. He also goes grocery
shopping inside the building on the 15th floor. As if the building if further
entrapping him along the way.

He goes to a costume
party inside the building where he is rejected and even his cigarette is limp
and broke looking just like him at that point. I really noticed the way the director focused on that cigarette and its deeper meaning.

Again enclosed, in
what I would call a racquetball court, trying to create a social connection
where he is playing squash where randomly the architect says, "By the
way, I hear you are fucking Suite #4."

The lower flows start
protesting about various issues and Mr. Laing looks out and can't even remember
where he has parked his car because he has been inside for so long or just
confused because everything looks the same.

Mr. Laing himself describe
the building as a place of "mania and narcissism." He has to tell what
appears to be Monroe about his concerning brain scan, but even his emotions are
contained when he says it.

This blog requests for
items that disturbed, moved or provoked me. Honestly the whole film did because
it hit so close to home, literally.

The class struggle was
depicted in an extremely compelling way.

Helen states,
"successful people don't want to be reminded that things go wrong."

At the children's
birthday party Mr. Laing speaks as a child of being covered with
"mudd, jam and failure," why? Because he grew up somewhere less
affluent?

The conversation
between Mr. Laing and Toby:

"Why don't you
have a wife?" asks Toby.

"Why don't you
have a dad? asks Mr. Laing.

"I want to be
better than you," says Toby.

Damn! Biting and
rough! This film is getting real!

Class struggle is also
apparent when the birthday party kids raid the pool.

and Richard is told, "You will never work in show business every again," from a tenant on
the upper floor. All the wealthy leave instead of staying and associating with the "others."

Richard gets high on
cocaine (or some other drug) and starts beating the hell out of the architect's
assistant because he is trying to hit on his girl and he is spiraling in the
class struggle, trying to prove how manly he is, how he is a SOMEBODY. I just
kept thinking when is someone going to stop him? Do I want to watch this
anymore?

The suicide occurs and
no police come and no one in the building appears to really care.

I suppose the member
was not on a high enough floor? LOL

Mr. Laing is filmed playing
squash in a suit. Is that just weird, more of class struggle or is he starting
to lose his mind?

I really started to
feel a higher level of disturbance when there was a strong lens focus on the
peaches going bad in the grocery store. Then again I was
pulled to the ideas of containment when Charlotte asks about his boxes he
states they are filled with "sex and paranoia."Interesting that he
never opens his boxes or really gets settles in until pandemonium hits and he
decides to paint his walls.

The way Charlotte
throws the picture of Mr. Laing's sister onto the floor with utter disregard,
not to mention that she asks him how his sister died during sex was beyond
words for me.

Again in my mind, I am
back to the class war and wondering when I get to leave this film when Helen
says, "life would be better if we had more money to live," this idea
that money buys happiness and how this film works to clearly display it
actually can buy misery of the greatest kind.

One of the upper floor
individuals yelled "Restrain that intruder" to the dog and I actually
did laugh. My building has a $500 fine if your dog is caught without a leash in
the building LOL

"Who wants to
fuck me in the ass," says the actress instead of asking people if they
want her autograph in the supermarket. I am not enjoying watching the massive
orgy at this point. I am feeling like I am watching a very grotesque version of
"Lord of the Flies."

Does money buy power?
Can you get away with anything if you are rich? The architect tells the police
officer when he sees the madness, "Nothing that can't be swept under the
rug" and then the police officer leaves the scene. Where else in the U.S.
have we seen that happen?

"Charlotte was
right about one thing, you are definitely the best amenity in the
building," says Helen after sex with Mr. Laing. She hit the nail on the
head…people are not people there, they are to be used and discarded as an
object, as an amenity. Is that how we as a society are becoming?

The most disturbing
part of the film was Charlotte's rape and beating, then serving her attacker a
can of salmon. The poor man has not dominated and humiliated the wealthy, hot
bitch who won't give him sex in his mind. In his mind, he showed her. It seemed
as if it was blackmail over learning
Toby's dad was the Architect.

As part of the class
war the lower levels force the wife of the architect to run until she falls on
the treadmill, almost like hazing her, wanting her to know what it feels like
to be humiliated.

It appears high class
women in white win the class war. Charlotte grabs and eats a piece of the horse
of a fine table in white while the rest of the place is in chaos. She acts like
a servant, alluding the fact Richard has it coming. Then multiple women
brutally stab Richard to death wearing white and enjoying it…OK this has now
become a full on horror flick and switched to a theme like "Midnight on
the Orient Express" except more disturbing and bloodier.

I thought this film
was well done and I would recommend it, but it was hard to swallow. I took it
as a warning for construction and lifestyle that is happening now that is unhealthy,
sick and brutal for us currently, and in the future…I personally am heeding that warning...